Pompey's father, Strabo, is hated but Pompey is loved consistently throughout his life as a generous and dignified man. Pompey once learns of a murder plot, puts a guard on his father's tent and waits until a man named Terentius first stabs Pompey's bed thinking the young man is asleep, then rushes Strabo. Strabo, afraid to show himself, remains inside as Pompey pleads for a reconciliation, gaining it when he throws himself at the feet of the soldiers, inviting them to trample him on their way out of camp.

Pompey marries then joins Cinna's army but flees as accusations fly. Some believe that Cinna killed Pompey, so quickly does he disappear, and Cinna is soon at the heart of an uprising and killed. At a time when many nobles flee to the relative safety of Sulla's military camp, Pompey—living in Picenum—gathers an army...